When the Pillsbury Bake-Off started, the recipe contest was all about from-scratch baking. I’ve got old cookbooks from the contest that feature all kinds of yeast breads, cakes and cookies, as well as main dishes. These days, the contest is much bigger – with a huge million dollar prize – but more of the recipes feature ready made ingredients instead of just the flour that was the original must-have ingredient. Don’t get me wrong – there is nothing wrong with a sponsored event asking you to use sponsored ingredients in your entries and it is great to have an element of convenience to make baking/cooking as accessible as possible. But for me, there will always be an edge for from-scratch baking.

Fortunately, there are still contests that give an edge to totally from scratch baking for those of us who love it. In this case, it’s Gold Medal Flour’s Scratch Bakers’ Club Baking Contest. This baking contest requires that you use at least one cup of any type of Gold Medal Flour (All-Purpose, Whole Wheat, Better for Bread, Self-Rising, Organic, Wondra) and that baking is the primary method of preparation.

The grand prize winner will get $1,000 plus a gift basket worth up to $150, and 9 runners-up will receive gift baskets of baking goodies worth up to $150 each! The contest runs from May 4, 2010–May 31, 2010 and all of the entries will be judged on creativity, taste, ease of preparation, appearance and overall appeal. I have to say that I think all of you (my readers!) will have no problems coming up with entries that meet this criteria!